Visualizing three-dimensional models is computationally a difficult task. Therefore, many different methods have been developed in order to speed up the visualization. Increased computing power and new software implemented methods have made the visualization step considerably faster. However, the increase of speed is typically used for rendering even more complex models. Today, models can include many objects and one complex object can consist of millions of polygons. Thus, the total number of polygons can be extremely large.
In three-dimensional models there are always polygons that are not visible. Typically, these polygons are not rendered at all. In larger models, sometimes very detailed objects are so far away that they are rendered small and all of the details are not visible. For example, the number of pixels in the end-result is considerably smaller than the number of polygons. In those cases it would be advisable to reduce the complexity of the object before visualization. In addition to distance there might be various other reasons, such as the speed of the object, that reduce the need for the large number of polygons. This concept is called the level of detail processing and the general concept is very well known to a person skilled in the art. The problem involved with the level of detail processing is how to choose the level of detail parameters so that the end result is as fast as possible without losing the quality of the visualized image when a very large number of polygons in a complex model is involved. A particularly difficult task is how to choose the details of the object that need to be rendered. The need for details depends on various matters as discussed above. Thus, it is normal that in complex models there are objects that have different needs. The present methods for choosing the details do not meet these requirements very well. Thus, there is a need for new methods for improving the level of detail concept.